But the move is something of a surprise, coming from the German state government which has been the strongest critic of Angela Merkel’s “open-door” refugee policy, and which has called repeatedly for the borders to be closed to migrants.

Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian state interior minister, said more police officers with an immigrant background were the best way to fight crime in immigrant communities.

“Our colleagues of foreign origin are an important asset to the police service and the best example of how to make integration really work,” Mr Herrmann told a press conference announcing the recruitment drive.

Officers with an immigrant background could provide a “direct line” to immigrant groups, he said.

“We hope to achieve even closer dialogue with immigrant communities through our colleagues with immigrant roots,” he said.

"Being familiar with the language, culture and mentality of each community helps us in police education and conflict resolution.

“I’m optimistic that in this way we can improve our ability to solve crimes and reduce conflict.”

The minister said he had been inspired to start the campaign by police failures in investigating the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terror cell that murdered ten people in a series of shootings and nail bombings directed at immigrants between 2000 and 2007.

Police initially believed the killings, which took place across Germany, were the result of violence between rival immigrant groups, and failed to uncover the true perpetrators for several years.

Investigators had not dealt “sensitively” with the families of victims, Mr Herrmann said.

“The upshot is that it wouldn’t have been a bad thing if we’d had more immigrant colleagues. But this issue has been on the agenda for a long time,” he said.

As state interior minister, Mr Herrmann is only responsible for policing in Bavaria.

But he called for police numbers to be increased across the country in response to the rising rate of burglaries.

“It’s about the protection of citizens’ property and trust in the rule of law,” he said.